This question may have been asked and answered elsewhere, but as the search function is down I'll ask it again - Why is it so hard to get hold of good Coral? Shipments seem almost random, and the quality likewise. Any tips on where to get hold of good frags?

I guess it depends on where ya live? Like by the sounds of things Auckland have way more variety than we have down here?

Having only just started I haven't come across any issues, John always seems to have a nice selection... just waiting on his next shipment that will hopefully have a nice green bubble in it for me

Yea, I get the impression that Auckland has more good stuff - bigger market, I guess.

It's just the way it is, the importer cannot go overseas to personally pick each piece so they get what comes, there are variations among species so it is inevitable a certain amount of less attractive ones will arrive.

But you have a real nice selection TheConch, I am surprised you think it is second rate, I think it is awesome!

Yeah conch, you should be fragging your nice specimens to people like me can benefit

I'm a perfectionist, I guess. :oops:

i think most of the corals john gets are from a reefer on here

and i need to ask you something conch but ill do it in a pm

I'm not poking the borax, I'm just keen to understand the supply chain a little better so I can scrag all the good bits

I don't know what you guys in Christchurch are complaining about, you have heaps of shops with all kinds of corals!

I'm only aware of 3 of them, 2 of which don't really have much of a variety (that ive ever seen anyways)

One in redwood, one in ilam and one on stanmore rd

Am I missing one that stocks marine?

I'm only aware of 3 of them, 2 of which don't really have much of a variety (that ive ever seen anyways)

One in redwood, one in ilam and one on stanmore rd

Am I missing one that stocks marine?

I don't think so - and Stanmore Road and Redwood don't have much at all at the moment - unless you want aiptasia :lol:

I know Redwood has a shipment from Fiji thats in QT at the mo. Should be out in a week or 2 but aparently its mostly SPS so no good for me

Stanmore Rd I've seen some interesting ones in the past (before I could buy them) but nothing special recently.

Ferry Rd looks like they're shutting up the marine shop there? Last time I was there I saw a rather sad looking large batfish with "make an offer" on it. Rest of the tanks were empty and that big blue unit that looked real good was sitting outside the door

Those would be redwood aquatics, critter kingdom and Organism. Redwood and Organism are very good, I guess redwood's stock gets distributed very quickly though.

There are also 2-3 others that I've been to that had marine fish and corals.

So, that's about 6 times as many shops as we have here?

Redwood and Organism are the only ones that appear to be carrying stock - Critter Kingdom and Pet World seem to have pulled the plug (and in the case of the latter, probably a good thing given the number of totally inappropriate fish they imported - how many Batfish can the Christchurch market take? 1? Batfish should be on the reef)

I dont think Critter Kingdom have pulled the plug because they're still getting new stock in (on Ferry Rd anyways)

Really? I must go and have a look...

This question may have been asked and answered elsewhere, but as the search function is down I'll ask it again - Why is it so hard to get hold of good Coral? Shipments seem almost random,

The marine industry is that way as it is what hobbyist want.

They keep moaning about prices and a few have deliberately undermined the stores.

Shops don’t make money from marines however hobbyist keep always going on about the price of stock and don’t support the shops then it will only continue the way it is going.

The hobby will only grow if more stores carry stock not because of pricing.

There are many old threads that will cover this and really no point in repeating it and it goes in one ear and out the other.

Also due to overseas demand it is going to get harder to get stock.

Not sure re the quality, as the stock I have seen is as good as any stock overseas.

tHEcONCH the post is not direct at you, sorry if it reads that way .

Is coral grown for the export market or is it harvested from reefs?

I have considered a saltwater tank, but I heard that the collection of live corals is having a devastating effect on these fragile eco-systems which majorly puts me off.

coral grown for the export market or is it harvested from reefs?

this may help

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/ethica ... tml#262222

Thanks Reef...

Interesting you say that reef, its exactly the same in the IT industry where I work, people want the best thing they can get, but dont want to pay for what its worth. I can fully understand why there aren't many marine resellers if its the same case (although in a much smaller scale which would make it even more difficult) If that all makes sense?

I dont see the point in whinging about prices. In an industry so small at the moment, it only takes a few people as you say reef, to undermine the stores and ruin it for others. Its possibly why we've seen a drawback of stores that no longer have marines? (I know of 2 who are heading out of it now)

I dont normally like getting into these kind of debates because people always tend to take it the wrong way, but I'm all for supporting the LFS's

Fmxmatt, you are spot on.

You would have thought Janssen closing would have been a warning, but the same people continue with the same naive attitudes and have really stuffed it up for others.

Sure we all want stuff cheap but at what cost to the industry.

It goes something along the lines of "I want the best graphics card on the market at the moment"

"Ok thats the Geforce XXXXX, $900"

"Oh, nah I was thinking something along the lines of $150 - $200"

Which in todays market is VERY average

But yeah, gives an idea of what its like, and thats even wholesale prices!

If you want certain corals bug your local shop who will in turn bug their importer who can hopefully get the corals for you, provided they are on the approved list. I have done this in the past with hff and got what I wanted. Most shops wont carry sps as there is too small a market for them

Its happening in every industry.

At least with the fish industry, you don't have pricespy with online shops advertising $1-10 on cost lol.

Although, I was told by a certain shop that sells marines "Price on xxx light, only 100 more than normal dealer"

What in the name of god. On a 1300 PC I make about that, and have to put a LOT more work into support, building the thing etc etc etc